Real Housewives

The Real Housewives of New York City gets more real than ever as newbie Jules takes Bethenny and Carole to task for gossiping about her eating disorder, which ignites a new feud just as Bethenny is ready to put her bad blood with Sonja to bed. Plus, after weeks of gushing about how in love she is, Luann finally puts a ring on it! Read on for a full recap of the drama...

We pick up right where last week left on, which is in the wake of Luann de Lesseps storming out of Dorinda Medley's ill-fated dinner party at Joanne Trattoria. As the Countess makes her angry escape, she runs right into Dorinda Medley and Jules Wainstein coming back from their smoke break. (Quick PSA: don't smoke.) Luann rails that she just can't understand why the other 'Wives can't simply be supportive of her relationship with Tom. If everyone else in her life can be happy she found her new "soulmate," why can't these bitches?? (Her words, not mine.) And with that, Lu is out. The Countess has dropped the mic and officially left the building.

Meanwhile, the rest of the women are still sitting around the table debating their frenemy's life. Is she back on her high horse? Can she help herself from pointing out that she's moved into Tom's penthouse? As her costars vent about Luann, frustration starts to build on Jules's face as she starts rushing to the defense of the absent Countess. The newbie points out that it's quite uncool to talk about your friend the second she leaves the table, and this segues into Jules confronting Bethenny Frankel and Carole Radziwill over talking about her behind her back. First, Jules takes Bethenny to task for constantly insinuating that she's stupid. All season long, the rookie hasn't taken kindly to any of Bethenny's jokes at her expense ("I need a verb," anyone?) and she's finally had it. With no bones about it, Jules calls the OG out for her "not nice" behavior, leaving all the 'Wives visibly stunned. No one in the history of RHONY has anyone ever stood up to Bethenny Frankel like this...

Jules then brings up the fact that she's been very honest and genuine from day one with her new friends about everything in her life - from revealing her eating disorder to talking about her marriage. Therefore, to find out that Bethenny and Carole have been gossiping about her eating disorder was a major betrayal of trust. B counters that she's actively kept a distance from Jules and her eating disorder, considering her estranged mom's own history with the disease, but Jules doesn't let her off the hook one bit. Instead, she gets emotional as she tells Bethenny (and Carole by association) to stop talking about her behind her back, as it discounts all the work and years she's put into her recovery. Furthermore, the other women may be uncomfortable with how skinny she is, but Jules exclaims that she loves her body and hugs her bones every day in gratitude. All of this is the reason why Jules is so open about her eating disorder, to keep her accountable. An eating disorder stays with you for life and every day is a challenge - in fact, Jules admits that she threw up her food just a few days prior. It's a powerful, vulnerable moment for the newbie and I've never loved her more. So many people can be helped, educated and enlightened by Jules choosing to share such a vulnerable story on a platform like the Housewives.

The next day, Luann meets Ramona for a walk-and-talk to clear the air from their dust-up at the Italian restaurant. With coordinated pops of red and blue against their winter black, the two vets go tit for tat over whether Ramona's really Luann's friend or if she's once again rearing her infamous Singer Stinger. Ramona can't believe Luann would even question her support after everything she's done to broker peace between her fellow OG and Bethenny and Carole. For the millionth time in this episode alone, Luann pulls out the "I'm in love and I'm getting married card," which prompts Ramona to point out that, while she may think she's in love, the relationship is rushing to the altar rather quickly. I mean, Luann and Tom only met a few months ago - after Ramona had dated him and he was still sleeping with Sonja. Icky. Ramona argues that there's no way Lu can really know the man she's supposedly ready to marry in such a short amount of time, but the Countess counters that when she knows, she knows. No matter how they met (did she or didn't she steal Tom away from a date with another woman at The Mark Hotel?) or who they dated in the past, as far as Luann's concerned it's all B.L. For someone who spent the entirety of Season 7 preaching about the girl code, the Countess seems to be eager to forget any code-breaking that may have happened "Before Lu."

Meanwhile, another gossip session is occurring in the West Village as Dorinda and Bethenny converge at Carole's apartment to rehash the drama with Jules. Bethenny is still speechless over the newbie blowing up at her and isn't quite sure what to think of the entire ordeal. Carole points out that Jules's anger seemed to be directed solely at B, while everything she said about the OG talking about her eating disorder could've been pointed at Radzi as well. Bethenny insists that she's been very delicate around Jules thus far, specifically tip-toeing around the subject of her eating disorder altogether. The OG ventures a guess that the rookie is paranoid because she opened up about her marriage and shared some private information that she's now afraid will become public (i.e. the couple's divorce announcement since filming wrapped). Either way, Dorinda points out that Jules's eating disorder is clearly a touchy subject that everyone - Bethenny and Carole included - should just be a bit more respectful about. However, Bethenny claims that she is officially done with the newbie. It looks like Jules won't be getting any more of the Skinnygirl's time or attention from here on out.

That evening, Sonja throws a small dinner party at her townhouse on the Upper East Side - inviting only Dorinda, her boyfriend John Mahdessian and the Wainsteins. Never mind that this is the first time Dorinda has let her boyfriend around any of the 'Wives (or Bravo's cameras) in weeks, the big news is that Jules is setting Sonja up on a blind date. As Lady Morgan rolls out the fine china and a borrowed butler from her ex-brother-in-law, it turns out that she already knows the mystery man in question, who's a notorious Italian playboy named Rocco. (By the way, how many Roccos could Sonja possibly know? I mean, c'mon now...) The evening seems to be going well, with Sonja regaling the table with stories of her giant, 200-year-old napkins, but conversation inevitably turns to Jules and Bethenny's showdown at Joanne's. Both Sonja and Dorinda are proud that Jules stood up for herself, but the newbie swears that she'll never again trust Bethenny or Carole with any personal information about her life.

It's finally time to go to Mohegan Sun! For the drive to Connecticut, Ramona's organized a party bus filled with enough Skinnygirl alcohol and snacks to hopefully avoid any drama between the ladies. Yet despite Ramona's best intentions, the tension is palpable between Bethenny and Jules as soon as all the women board the bus. However, the most pressing item of business revolves around the one 'Wife who's M.I.A: Luann's officially engaged! Of course, all of the women had to find out in the press, rather than from the Countess's mouth, but they toast to her anyway. Looks like Luann is finally getting everything she wanted - I'm just surprised cameras didn't follow her to Vail to capture the big moment.

Now that she's fighting with Jules, Bethenny is ready to make up with Sonja after months of silence surrounding their Skinnygirl/Tipsy Girl feud. With some time and distance, Bethenny recognizes that she was perhaps a bit harsh in completely cutting Sonja off, and she finally wants to make at least some sort of amends. The Skinnygirl admits that it's impossible not to love Sonja, and that under all her messy quirks, she's truly a good person. For her part, Sonja is both happy and relieved to finally get an apology from Bethenny, and admits there was wrong on her part as well. The Skinnygirl claims she's seen a positive change in Sonja lately and declares their drama officially over. But does this mean we won't see them argue over this at the reunion??

What did you think of this week's RHONY? Are you Team Jules or Team Bethenny? Can you stand hearing Luann say "B.L." or "soulmate" one more time? Are you happy she's finally engaged? Let me know in the comments!